1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of handbag design and construction, in particular, to the design and construction of a pair of nested handbags which can also serve as separate units.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of handbags is well known in the prior art. Many designs and configurations are represented, with attractiveness, ease of use, portability, security, ease of content organization and usable capacity relative to overall size being advantageous factors. Recently, attention has been given to convertible or nested handbags, wherein an inner, removable handbag is wholly contained within an outer handbag. The outer handbag may belong to a set of differently styled similar units and, thereby, serve merely as a shell, providing a way to change the outer appearance of the combined unit, while not appreciably affecting the storage or organization of items within the inner handbag. Steinhart (U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,262) provides a handbag comprising an inner handbag disposed within an outer handbag, thereby allowing the user to easily transfer the contents of a purse into a variety of variously designed and colored handbags. Barbaresi (U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,991) provides a convertible handbag comprising a rigid outer basket-like frame within which a soft fabric inner bag is fastened by wing-like flaps and a handle chain. Like the handbag provided by Steinhart, the convertible handbag of Barbaresi has as a major object the provision of a handbag that can be changed in style and color. Briganti (U.S. Pat. No. Des. 408,146), Briganti (U.S. Pat. No. Des. 403,863) and Kohn (U.S. Pat. No. Des. 334,661) all disclose designs for handbags containing a removable liner which, like the previously cited patents, allow the organization of contents and the transfer of said organized contents into other ornamental outer containers.
While the capability of changing styles is a major advantage of convertible and nested handbags, the ease with which the change can be effected is equally important. Another important advantage of the nested design, is the possibility of using each member of the pair of handbags as a separate and independent entity. In the former regard, the handbag provided by Barbaresi requires the inner bag to be secured to the outer bag by the weaving of a chain through openings that are positioned beneath rigid wings on the outer shell. Achieving this interconnection could require a level of manipulation that is difficult for elderly people or people whose dexterity is compromised. In a similar way, equally disadvantageous to some users, the handbag provided by Steinhart requires that flaps from the inner bag be passed through slots in the outer bag. As regards the advantageous possibility that each bag could be used as a separate entity, neither the handbags of Steinhart, Barbaresi, Briganti nor Kohn provide that possibility. The handbag of Barbaresi comprises a rigid outer shell containing a soft inner bag. The rigid shell is not intended to be used alone, whereas the soft inner bag, if unsupported by the rigid outer shell, may lack the structural integrity to serve as an independent unit. The handbag of Steinhart comprises an inner bag with substantial storage flaps that are intended to be inserted through slots in the outer bag to secure it. These flaps would be a hinderance if the inner bag were to be used as an independent unit without the surrounding aspect of the outer bag. Finally, it should be noted that the handbag of Barbaresi utilizes its carrying handle as an integral part of the mechanism by which the inner and outer portions are secured. This makes it impossible to use such a handbag without carrying handles, which might be desirable in certain instances. The designs of Briganti and Kohn clearly anticipate the inner container to be only a liner and not to provide the possibility of its use as a separate entity. In light of these deficiencies of convertible and nested handbags bags of the prior art as well as handbags designed with removable liners, the present invention provides a novel handbag design and construction that combines ease of changing the outer style of the handbag as a combined unit, while still providing the use of an inner and an outer handbag as independent and separate units.
A first object of this invention is to provide a pair of nested handbags, comprising an inner handbag and an outer handbag secured to each other.
A second object of this invention is to provide a pair of nested handbags wherein the outer handbag can be easily interchanged with other similar units so as to permit color and stylistic variations of the combined unit.
A third object of this invention is to provide a pair of nested handbags wherein the inner handbag can be easily transferred to and secured within any one of a plurality of outer handbags without disturbing its contents or organization.
A fourth object of this invention is to provide a pair of nested handbags which can also serve as separate and independent units.
A fifth object of this invention is to provide a pair of nested handbags, to be used together or separately, with detachable carrying handles.
These objects are achieved by the use of a novel configuration of snaps disposed along small flexible straps affixed within each bag. When the bags are nested, the female snaps on the straps of the outer bag connect to the male snaps within the inner bag, thus easily securing the bags to each other without the necessity of complex or difficult manipulations. The same strap/snap combination can be used to secure carrying straps or handles to the outer bag so as to enable the combined unit to be easily carried. When the bags are to be used separately, the strap/snap combinations hang down within the bags so as not to interfere with the contents of the bag and to be well concealed or, equally advantageously, they may be snapped together to themselves. If they are snapped together to themselves, the strap/snap combinations can be used to secure carrying straps to the bags when they are used separately.
In general, herein disclosed is a pair of nested handbags comprising an outer handbag, said outer handbag comprising at least two side pieces, each side piece comprising an inner facing surface, an end of each of two straps of upwardly directed flexible material being affixed to the inner facing surface of each of at least two outer handbag side pieces, attached to each upwardly directed strap is a lower fastener and an upper fastener, a lower fastener on an upwardly directed strap being situated closer to the attached end of a corresponding upwardly directed strap than is an upper fastener on the same upwardly directed strap, aligned with each upwardly directed strap and attached below each upwardly directed strap to the inner facing surface of a corresponding side piece of said outer handbag are a lower fastener and an upper fastener, each lower fastener situated on an inner facing surface of an outer bag side piece is a mate of a corresponding upper fastener situated on a corresponding outwardly directed strap and each upper fastener situated on an inner facing surface of an outer bag side piece is a mate of a corresponding lower fastener situated on a corresponding outwardly directed strap; an inner handbag, of smaller dimensions than the outer handbag, said inner handbag comprising at least two side pieces, each side piece comprising an inner facing surface, an end of each of two straps of inwardly directed flexible material being affixed to the inner facing surface of each of at least two inner handbag side pieces, attached to each inwardly directed strap is a lower fastener and an upper fastener, an upper fastener on an inwardly directed strap being situated closer to the attached end of a corresponding inwardly directed strap than is a lower fastener on the same inwardly directed strap, aligned with each inwardly directed strap and attached above each inwardly directed strap to the inner facing surface of a corresponding side piece of said inner handbag are a lower fastener and an upper fastener, each lower fastener situated on an inner facing surface of an inner bag side piece is a mate of a corresponding upper fastener on a corresponding inwardly directed strap and each upper fastener situated on an inner facing surface of an inner bag side piece is a mate of a corresponding lower fastener situated on a corresponding inwardly directed strap; each lower fastener situated on an inner facing surface of an inner bag side piece is a mate of a corresponding upper fastener on a corresponding outwardly directed strap of an outer bag and each upper fastener situated on an inner facing surface of an inner bag side piece is a mate of a corresponding lower fastener situated on a corresponding outwardly directed strap of an outer bag.
In one variation of the nested handbags herein disclosed each upper fastener situated on an inner facing surface of an inner bag side piece is a mate of a corresponding lower fastener situated on a corresponding inwardly directed strap and wherein said corresponding lower fastener situated on a corresponding inwardly directed strap is oriented to face towards the interior of the inner handbag when said inwardly directed strap hangs freely and fully extended inside the inner handbag.
In another variation of the nested handbags herein disclosed each upper fastener situated on an inner facing surface of an inner bag side piece is a mate of a corresponding lower fastener situated on a corresponding inwardly directed strap and wherein said corresponding lower fastener situated on a corresponding inwardly directed strap is oriented to face towards the exterior of the inner handbag when said inwardly directed strap hangs freely and fully extended inside the inner handbag.